TOURING BIKE BUYERS GUIDE 11 WHAT’S IN A 20 WHEEL? 1X DRIVETRAIN ROUNDUP 28 TIPS FOR CREATING YOUR 32 OWN ROUTE ILLUSTRATION BY LEVI BOUGHN 2020 MARCH ADVENTURE CYCLIST 10 TOURING BIKE BUYERS GUIDE you’re looking for a new touring bike buying advice in a more theoretical way. We in 2020, you’re in luck — a proliferation believe that the more cyclists can name their IF of highly capable rides offers options needs and understand the numbers that work that would have been pure fiction even a for them, the more empowered they are to get few years ago. But with that flood of options the right bike whether that’s with a helping comes a head-spinning (and sometimes head- hand from the pros at their local bike shop, a scratching) granularity in bikes called things direct-to-consumer order over the internet, like X-Road and All-Road and Endurance Road or even a parking lot Craigslist transaction. and Adventure and Gravel. Knowledge is (buying) power. While the naming might be silly, what’s But with the sheer volume of suitable new certain is the bike industry has come around bikes available, for 2020 we’re playing it very, to what touring cyclists have known for years: very straight. If you’re shopping for a new namely, that tire clearance, a little luggage bike this year, we’ve compiled what we think capability, and comfortable geometry make for are some of the very best across a number bikes that do anything and go anywhere. The of categories to suit the dyed-in-the-wool 23mm tire is nearly dead, and we’re happy to traditionalist, the new-school bikepacker, and pedal a nice 47mm with room left for fenders even the battery assisted. You might not right over its grave. find the perfect bike for you in the next If you’ve been reading Adventure Cyclist eight pages, but just like a good for a few years, you know that for the last few bike tour, you’ve got to “Cyclists Travel Guide” issues, we’ve tackled start somewhere. BY ALEX STRICKLAND ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG/MEMBERS 11 LONG-DISTANCE LOADED TOURING UNDER $2,000 OVER $2,000 All the classics fall into this category, proving that Whether it’s a full-custom dream bike or just a little more of the old adage of “fast, cheap, or good — pick two” is a a Gucci build on an otherwise economical frameset, $2,000 perfect fit for the archetypal touring rig. Spoiler alert: can buy quite a lot of bicycle. Of course, it’s not unusual they ain’t fast. What they are is a ton of bike for low- anymore for top-end performance bikes (including touring to mid-four figures. Budget an even two grand, and performance) to crest five figures, so two grand is a relative you can walk out of the shop with bike, racks, and bargain. But for many, it’s the mark where your non-cycling bags as ready for the Katy Trail as for Kazakhstan. friends might start scrunching up their noses at the notion. We’ve reviewed every model here (most more than once) in a long-form Road Test, which you can find at Jones Plus LWB adventurecycling.org/archive. Jeff Jones has long preached the gospel of big tires, but his swooping framesets and truss forks were the stuff of Fuji Touring dreams for most. Well, even though he’s had more traditional No doubt about what this bike is built for, the diamond frames and bikes on offer for a few years now, his Touring is as classic as they come. Sporting rim recent foray into overseas production to bring complete brakes (Fuji dropped the disc variant last year, Jones bikes down to the price point of the masses is rapidly but they can probably still be found on showroom spreading the good word. The LWB (long wheel base) can be floors), a 3x9 drivetrain from Shimano, bar-end ordered with big 29 x 2.8in. knobby or smooth tires, features shifters, and an included rear rack, this Reynolds- Jones’s own beloved H-Bar, and is ready to go without a wait steel–framed option is no-frills and a heckuva for just a hair over $2,000. bargain for a new bicycle at $900. Co-Motion Deschutes Surly Long Haul/Disc Trucker For essentially the price of a typical frameset from the Eugene, For 1,350 bucks ($200 more for discs), this is Oregon–based Co-Motion, you can buy the Deschutes as a probably the bike you think of when you close your complete build. The steel frame is still made right there in eyes and dream about a long tour. Bosses galore, 3x9 Oregon, and the paint job is still as deep and glossy as anything shifting, variable wheel sizes depending on frame from Co-Motion (there’s only one color per year — Ivy Green size — 26in. for smaller sizes, 700c for bigger — and for 2020), but at a fraction of what you might expect for Made tubes of Surly’s own 4130 chromoly, the Truckers in America. Using road shifters and a super-compact double remain stalwart options not just for their reputation crankset mated to a mountain bike cassette and rear derailer, if for bombproof reliability, but also for their one of the five standard sizes works for you, this might be the incredibly wide availability thanks to being owned best value out there for a traditional touring rig. by distribution giant QBP — most any bike shop in America can order one for you. Tout Terrain Tanami Xplore If you want your gears out of the elements, there are two Trek 520 (main) choices for the bicycle traveler: Rohloff’s Speedhub or Trek’s longest-running model (introduced in 1983) a Pinion gearbox. Both very German, both with forumfuls of got a big update in 2018, which moved the venerable proponents and skeptics. Both pricey. Both, it must be said, 520 squarely into the modern age. Unlike the other very cool. We’ve spent a bit more time aboard Pinions in the legs of the touring bike stool from Surly and Fuji, last few years and have been impressed by the 12- and 18-speed Trek spec’d brifters (combined shifter/brake levers) versions, and that’s what we’d put on a Tanami Xplore from on the new model while hanging onto the classic Tout Terrain. It’s going to set you back about five grand 3x9 drivetrain. With disc brakes, included front and depending on spec, but it’s a lifelong bike with Dedacciai steel rear racks, and the aforementioned brifters, the 520 tubing, integrated rear rack, dynamo power, and a heckuva costs nearly double the Fuji at $1,680 but offers a reliable drivetrain. Prefer Rohloff? The standard Tanami runs much more modern package. just about the same price with gears in the hub. 12 ADVENTURE CYCLIST MARCH 2020 ack mounts, triple cranksets, burly steel tubing, and dropbars, ROAD TEST R that’s the tried-and-true list of HALL OF FAME ingredients for a round-the-world– capable touring bike. Bolt on some racks, hang four panniers and a handlebar bag, and pedal to the edge of the map. Full-blown touring bikes don’t see the kind of annual “updates” that iterate other bike categories with a steady stream of incremental (and arguably unnecessary) changes. Generally that means touring bikes have stayed affordable — in some cases, models haven’t changed price for half a decade while enjoying a rising tide of component quality. But don’t be fooled by a static spec sheet. The recipe for what works when fully loaded still holds up. You can’t go wrong with the trusty pickup Co-op Cycles ADV 1.1 truck of the cycling world. Truth be told, this whole category is something of a Hall of Fame — when you want touring to play the hits, this is the set list. But if the 520, Trucker, and Touring make up three-fourths of the Mount Rushmore of touring bikes, the fourth titan must be the Novara … er, Co-op Cycles ADV 1.1. Sure, it lacks the instant recognizability of the Novara Radonee nameplate that it supplanted, but the rebranded ADV has all the same touchpoints — 3x9, bar-cons, racks fore and aft — plus some big upgrades like TRP’s excellent Hy/Rd cable-actuated hydraulic disc brakes. At $1,400, the cornerstone of the outdoor retail behemoth’s expanded bicycle line still delivers. CURVEBALL Brompton How far can you ride a Brompton? We “Some bikes in this price range suffer from assumed we knew the answer to this question when our time aboard the marketing-induced multiple-personality Lilliputian bike was limited to parking lot loops. Commute to work in the city? disorder. 'I’m a road bike! No, a gravel bike! A Sure. Multiday journeys? Adorable, but commuter? Cross-country tourer? Just buy me, no. After a summer putting in some miles though, we’ve seen the light. for the love of God! I’ll do anything, I swear!' You’re going to have to pack lightish, but with a little creativity this clever Not the ADV 1.1. It knows its capabilities and folder will reward the minimalist with the kind of travelability that opens up, limitations. It will perform specific functions well, everything. Plus, if bicycle travel and balk at others. It may be represented by itself invites human interaction, you can safely multiply that by tenfold aboard a the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.” Brompton — you will make new friends.